Footage released of man who drowned in Tempe Town Lake as officers watched 

yea, I wouldn't have gone in there after him either, panic would set in and he'd probably drown my ass trying to save himself.

It would be suicidal for an officer to jump in with all that gear.

I was a lifeguard eons ago, if I didn't have a floatation device I wouldn't of went it either..it's very dangerous try an rescue someone who can't swim without any floatation device..when their having trouble swimming they panic and start grabbing on to you and pushing you under, add to the situation that he was a big dude..sorry cops weren't at fault her.

The only person to blame here is the guy who got in the water ! He is a grown man and mad a decision that lead to his demise Plain and simple , no one else to blame !

For those judging, I'd like to share something as a former lifeguard. The FIRST thing we were taught was how to gain control when someone was panicking and trying to push us lifeguards down to save themselves. It was heavily trained and we learned how to use the flotation devices to assist them AND ourselves when a panicking person is attempting to drown us out of panic. It is definitely NO JOKE trying to help a panicking person in water. Sadly, if ALL ELSE failed, we were to just save ourselves. It's horrible to think that way and it was hard for me but the truth is one dead person is better than TWO dead persons. I was on two swim teams and was the strongest swimmer of anyone I know and I could have drowned if I didn't have control of the situation. A swimmer's talent is useless if they are being pushed under by a panicking person and don't know how to get out of the situation. What good does TWO dead bodies do anyone? Absolutely nothing. Then a person trained to save lives is never going to be helping anyone again. And remember... He CHOSE to jump in that water. He didn't slip and fall off a dock or boat. That was conscious decision. One that ended very poorly for him.

There was a guy here in GA who jumped into the river to try and save his friend who was drowning and both drowned. Unless you know you have the ability to rescue a full grown adult, don’t even bother unless you want to die as well.

I wouldn’t have went in after him. They are not lifeguards. I have tried to save my brother from drowning and almost died myself. Strangers saved me half a mile downstream.

Clearly the couple were on some kind of drug. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out. But he chose to go for a swim and risk his own life. We are responsible for keeping ourselves safe. So most of us don’t put ourselves in a situation that could end our lives. I don’t blame the cops. I would have not gone after him.

You showed this much so why in the heck won't you show the entirety of what happened ? How irritating.

I am not usually a fan of the police, but this is literally not the police officers fault. 1- the man announced that he could swim. As an ok swimmer myself I know that I can start in one part of the water and disappear and end up somewhere else. That’s what I thought he was doing. 2- there is no requirement that an officer knows how to swim. 3- If the police were not detaining him they cannot physically stop him. They had no way of knowing he was actually going to go in the water or just stay at the edge. 4- If I was a police officer who could not Swim I would not want to engage with a civilian who might push me in the water

Dude had some balls jumping in there. Probably what ultimately weighed him down, tragically killing him.

I was a lifeguard years ago. No way would I go into the water after that man without buoy or float. He's huge; drowning people are dangerous and will take rescuers down with them. "Reach, throw, row, go (last resort)" People who are not trained lifeguards and who are not very strong swimmers in good condition have no business attempting water rescue!!!!

Sometimes you just have to suffer the consequences of your own actions. That is hard for some people to understand. Why didn't his "wife" jump in to save him?

As much as it seems at first glance that the officers should have done something like jump in and try to save the man like the video seems to be implying they should have done, the officers were smart not to try to do that, as the man would have just dragged them under the water while panicking and gotten both/all three killed. There's a reason that places like beaches and pools have dedicated lifeguards with floatation equipment. A drowning person would absolutely try to pull you under water to try to keep themselves afloat.

These cops were super nice.. this guy done this to himself.. were they supposed to jump in after him?

I don't trust cops, so when I heard about this tragic case, I immediately thought the worse... of the cops. However, after watching this bodycam, I can't fault these cops for not risking their lives to try to save this unfortunate man. He jumped into the water on his own. He wasn't pushed and he didn't fall in by accident. This means he probably would have resisted anyone who tried to get him out of the water. That would have been a difficult rescue attempt even for a trained lifeguard. And, even if he hadn't resisted being saved, getting him out of the water without proper training or equipment would have been dangerous enough to possibly kill both him and his attempted savior.

That guy is a grown ass man who got in there willingly. Not the officer’s fault.

I don't see how the cops are at fault here in any way, they're not lifeguards and the man while mentally unstable, didn't do anything that could be taken as threatening or endangering anyone besides himself.

The man was warned,why would anyone including the naysayers,want to jump from a bridge to save someone who doesn’t want to live. I’m thinking those cops were sane and wanted to go home to their families just as YOU would too. His wife is high as a kite. The guy was calm and maybe the river patrol should have been dispatched by the 911 operator..

The police is not the Coast Guard or a Life Guard who has experience with saving people in water.

Is the guy on the bike under scrutiny also? He sat on his bike and watched as well? I bet 99.9% of these internet trolls would have sat back while recording the whole event unfold.

To whoever wrote this description: How do you know the officers can swim? How do you know they are trained in water rescue as jumping in to save a drowning grown man is EXTREMELY dangerous when they are panicking and can result in the rescuer being drowned as well, hence why not just anyone should do a water rescue with a panicking / mentally unstable individual.

How typical of the media to try and put the blame on the police. While I feel sorry for the family, the man was in a lake where swimming was prohibited and has been for years. If he was a local, he already knew that. We all do stupid things at times and we have nobody but ourselves to blame. It's obvious that fire and rescue, who would be more equipped in that situation, could not respond in time to save the man. If I were in the policemans position and was not an accomplished swimmer, I would have done the same thing. Even the most experienced swimmer can become a victim to the down currents in a river. Don't tempt fate. The odds will not come out on your side.

I have to say I cant blame the cops for not going in after him. He was warned not to go into the lake..He jumped in and swam anyway.

What the hell is that male officer doing taking the female officers notebook and refusing to give it back??!!? Something more is going on with that officer.

Titles pretty slanted when you consider, like most of the comments do, how dangerous it is to save a drowning victim. Makes me call into question what the channel mean to do with the way its worded.

They are Police Officers and not Fire and Rescue! They're not trained for water rescue and are not a part of a dive team so I don't blame them for not going in after him and 99% of the people criticizing their efforts would do the same thing if they were there, stand there and watch and hope for the best for him!

The thing is he's a big guy and he chose to go in the water against the officers advise! Unless you're a very strong swimmer with life gear on and a floatation device, it would be suicide to go in after him and make any attempt to rescue him, he would most likely, resist or panic and take both of them out⚠️😲 The best you could do here for him would be to throw him a line or life buoy etc I didn't see any about, usually they have them installed along water fronts like this. Failing that get a boat on the water and attempt a rescue like that?

No matter what they do they’re going to be wrong, so why try and be heroes? A lot of these situations have commonalities, like breaking the law and being stupid.

I’d wouldn’t have gone in there either, especially with all that gear

3:34 what is that in the background? No way he's walking through the water that quickly

is it just me or did someone else see that strange black figure moving from where the bridge is and moved across the water @ 3:19 - 3:50

The guy said he could swim, he jumped into the lake. The officers have about 30 pounds of gear on them. The guy swims off at a good pace and looks to be doing okay. Doing some research, the procedure would be to call for a patrol boat that would normally go after an idiot like this. This is not the movies, this is real life. An officer is not going to pull off all his gear, most of his clothes and shoes just to jump into the water to chase after some idiot. If you think the Cops did wrong, I suggest that you first check out what a rescue swimmer must do in a situation like this. Also know that someone wanting to kill themselves in a drowning situation, or trying to rescue a drowning person, they will take you down with them. Especially if they are panicking. People trained in that specialty know what to do and how to handle someone like that. Not every Police officer is or capable of going that kind of work. This officer might be a good swimmer but is probably not a rescue swimmer or trained in that type of work. Don't blame the Cop for this idiot drowning himself. As for me, I could care less about that retard. He made that decision and fulfilled Darwin's Law. There is only so much a person can do to help another. It's like the old saying, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink". Every person must know their limitations and act appropriately. You do not jump into a deep body of water to save a drowning person if you do not know how to swim. A good example of situational awareness and knowing your limitations is what happened a few years back on a hog farm in the summer. The owner went to unclog a sewage drain that was backed up with the hog wast. As he stepped down into the ditch and started to work, he was overcome by the ammonia fumes and passed out. A few minutes later, a co-worker or his son went to check on him and saw him lying on the side of the ditch. First thing he does is run over and try to pull the guy out and he is overcome buy the fumes and passes out. Another person sees these two passed out in the ditch, yells to another person to call 911 and runs over and tried to pull one out of the ditch and now they pass out. First Fireman that gets there and with the help of another worker try and start pulling someone out and they pass out. When the Fire Chief gets there with the first engine, two firemen start running for the ditch to start pulling these guys out and the Fire Chief stops them. He could see that there is a dangerous problem. He then tells the firemen that are going to pull these guys out to put on their air packs first. By the time it was all done, it was a body recovery operation. The first 5 people died because the ammonia fumes had settled in that ditch and were so concentrated, it killed them. This is what I mean about knowing your limitations and situation awareness before you rush in to a situation. There is no sense getting yourself killed trying to rescue a dead person. Nor is it wise to jump into a lake and try and rescue a person committing suicide, if you are not trained for that and getting yourself killed trying to rescue a person trying to kill themselves.

The officers did nothing wrong!

I had a man, a full grown man in his 20s try to use me a post, trying to grapple up me pushing me into the water to sit on me to save his own life with out thinking of me and mine. I swam away, only a few metres talked to him and managed to get him calm down enough to let me Lau him back on my body as I brought us both back in. That man would of drowned me out of panic and then drowned himself from fatigue. IF YOU A NOT A STRONG SWIMMER PLEASE PRETTY PLEASE... SUN BATHE AND TRY TO GET LAID INSTEAD OF SWIMMING AND NEARLY DROWNING YOURSELF AND THE PEOPLE TRYING (although I did save this guy) SAVE YOU! Learn to swim, it's such and easy and lovely thing to do. And good for our fitness. Swimming and Sex both use ALL those muscles we don't always think about. So swim, get laid, then swim, get laid, then hopefully both swimming becomes a core value and getting laid means you have met a cool person and that becomes a core relationship, with both having such a beneficial future. Plus swimmers are hot, both physically and mentally. Body looks good, mind is focused as 5.4km of swimming gives you time to think. Learn to swim, date swimmers, go into business with swimmers. Q 2022

The video just shows a man swimming away from police after being told he could not swim in Tempe Town Lake. Looks like he could swim pretty well since he swam almost halfway across before the video fades to black.. The highlight of this video is the cop arriving on scene with Led Zeppelin Kashmir playing on his radio. Right on!

the only thing you can do to help a person that tries to swim fully clothed is to wait until they are unconscious strip down then jump in after them that way they do not drown you ...tough call .

The ability to swim, kind of an important thing to know if you plan on getting out of the water

anyone else see the male cop snatch the little book out of female officers hand?? it looked like the female officer was.pissed

06:16 when the officer took the book out of her hand, was the only thing wrong

3:34 what the hell is that bigfoot in the water?? Am I seeing things I see some huge person walking in the water what the hell is that? I dont see anyone doing anything wrong except the guy who decided to put himself in an impossible situation. The police technically have no duty to save lives, they are law enforcers. Its a rough thing to accept, but if you accept it things make a lot more sense. This is why its stupid to rely on the government to protect you, the only thing you can rely on is yourself or family members if you have a true family.

Had cops detained him before he walked into the water, the video would have been titled, “Cops illegally detain homeless for no reason!”

But the onething is why didn't they stop him in the first place.

I’ve gone through water lifesaving school and I was a strong, competitive swimmer and even then it’s very difficult to save someone that isn’t suicidal and mentally ill. How much lifeguard training do these cops get? How do we know if these officers can swim? This headline reeks of hate towards the police, typical of media today.

Don't do drugs kids...The cops did say "you're not allowed to swim in the lake" at least they follow the rules...

The person got there by himself and he can get back. Even if they wanted to jump in and save him they are not wearing the right equipment and may drown themselves.

Look, if the guy wanted to pass into the next life by doing some stupid or dangerous, and he isn't a danger to anyone else, why would you stop him? If he's compos mentis, it's surely HIS choice. Let people make their own choices!

The only think I saw wrong here was the whole video not being uploaded. So judgements are off the table fellas.

Crazy people do crazy things, that's all. Don't try to understand them, it'll make you crazy too.

Whatever... That's a grown man.

Am I missing something here ? At the very end of the video it says due to the sensitive nature of the remaining portion of the recording, a transcript of the sensitive portion of the event is being provided for full transparency. Except there's no transcript and if you really wanted full transparency you would play the last two minutes of what happened. It looks really really bad

They are not rescue swimmers and had no water rescue equipment. What else can they do but watch unless they want to die too.

No one's pointing out that cops have everything on hand to arrest and kill people, including the training, but nothing on hand to save people, including the caring.

When I did Lifeguard training they teach you not to jump in but find something to throw out. They can easily pull you under

Wow! "That's not a residence"? Ummm. What country does the cop think that we live in?

If you aren't trained or equipped properly its really dangerous to try and save a drowning victim

The police is not to blamed in this, the title should be changed, I wouldn’t personally go in as well because the water and etc is deep, however they could called police water boat’s, I don’t blame the cops

For those wondering about the notepad, it was the male officer's. At 5:47 he hands it to her and she jokes about not being able to read it, so he snatches it back, reads the guy's name to dispatch and zips it away.

Usually when I try this, the cops just spawn in with boats...

3:36 does anybody else see a dude walking in the middle of the lake?

Why are they blocking cops faces they're on duty and in public you can go to their website and find out who they were

They are POLICE OFFICERS not LIFEGUARDS! It's dangerous to be in that water not only because it's deep but because it's cold and you can get caught in the current! Which is why the officers told him multiple times that he can't swim in there come back and get out! Not to mention the officers would drown themselves with the equipment they have on that is already heavy to begin with!

He went for a participation award and ended up with a Darwin award.

It’s serve and protect. Not “save idiots and be scrutinized by media”. He had liver problems and hair loss when he was on the side walk aka dry land.. He was given ample warnings that then officers were not coming in after him after he decided to go for a swim.

To protect and serve. They forgot their oath. Seems mighty popular nowadays.

@3:30 what the hell is that in the background. Looks like a person walking through the bridge and all the way across the camera. How did the officers not see that and say something

Zero compassion.

What a bunch of nice guys.

I’m sorry, maybe it’s just me but the headline made it seem like someone fell in and the cops did nothing. This man was running away and more than likely would have been combative in the water causing the officer to risk drowning. What were they supposed to do? Something tells me that if they chased him in the water, the headline would read “Man dies after drowning in the lake because he was aggressively chased by police”. You can’t win.

my condolences to his family but the police should not be held accountable for his actions.

Why are all the faces blocked out??

This guy was rocking back and forth to get his nerves together. He chose this and there was nothing questionable about what these officers did. He chose his faith intentionally

It is true that when a person is drowning you should not attempt to save them with just yourself to swim for the both of you. Rescuers can become victims very easily. The cops lack of response is definately questionable but I would not have jumped in there alone to try and save him.

From what I saw the guy jumped in and started to swim away from the officer. Why would they jump in after him when he is swimming away?

if your not allowed to swim in the fucking lake and its literally illegal they should've grabbed him before and detained him it dont make sense...

If the officers aren't trained lifeguards it wouldn't have been wise to jump in after the guy.

I am fully on board w/officers not jumping in to attempt to rescue this man. My question is, why around such a prominent body of water where even accidents are bound to occur, why were there no rescue floatation devices to toss out to someone who has fallen or jumped in?? One would think they would be stationed intermittently around the railing and bridge, just as fire extinguishers are located 'in case of' a potential fire.

Thanks for saving me from my visual comprehension of a very sensitive moment.

The cops should have pulled him from aside the railing

all i saw was respectful officers in a position that had a no win situation...you jump in and the guy drowns you you do nothing your a coward....they treated that man with respect and he simply did this to himself

After 40 years, about done with considering y'all a news source. Click bait, opinionated video titles. This guy got what he deserved, swimming towards the turbines. Did you expect the officers to jump in after him? Wake up

I wouldn't either, Nothing worse then trying to save someone who's resisting. They'll pull you under. You're suppose to approach a drowning victim feet first so you can kick them off if they try and grab you because they're in a panic.

That female office was pissed at the male officer grab that item out her hand. It was rude even in my eyes, ask before u grab

No reason for the LEO's to have faced blurred. Other than that, im not jumping in after a man that went in there willing.

"Did not step in to help" As if you would lol. Im not getting in there to get drowned myself.

Ok the minute 3:25 something black like a body shape is walking over the water…Wtf is that…?

This is not a video as described. Released the full video. What are you hiding.... Them joking around as he drowns I assume...

Love how all these comments are crying bias about the title when the title is literally just descriptive. Man drowns. Cops watch. That's what happened bootlickers. lmao

How did he get over the rail with 3 cops surrounding him less than 5ft away from him? It might have been the scene that just made the officers relax to the point that they were just on chill mode. One of them cops should have grabbed his ass once he put one leg over the rail. The officer was just relaxing enjoying the moment. Just taking a mental time out. It was probably a stressful shift, while buddy was leaning on the rail planning his great escape. But I can't say it's 100% the police officer's fault. It isn't their job to jump in a lake and save a fool. Dying a hero is definitely overated especial when you have a family and children that need you. But it's something relaxing and calming about being around a lake and water and I think for a moment they just completely let their guard down.

I would NEVER risk my life for someone’s STUPIDITY! Greetings from Australia 🇦🇺

No cop I've ever seen in my area would have let Ole Boy go over the edge of that and just watched specially while he was right there in front of him bro but I don't understand that any makes the comment I wonder how far he'll be able to swim are you serious right now

03:28 heyo,... anyone else see a person running thru the water in the back?

I would've not gone after him myself.

Better than living drugged out on the streets. I was a lifeguard, the first instinct of those in the water is to latch on and use you, the rescuer, as a floatation device. He wanted to go, whether then or 5 minutes after they left. Baseline headline from people who certainly would call 911 in a heart beat. Hypocrites and anti-police is why there’s so many of this exact guy. Time to grow up folks.

For clarity; Tempe officers do not possess water-rescue training and lack equipment to perform water rescues without putting the officer at risk. That is the reason why they did not go in

They are probably two of the stupidest and laziest cops I ever saw. They didn’t even try to stop him or talk him out of it. Sad and sick that they would stand there and watch him do that and not even try to help him.

You learn in the military to not to save a drowning person till after they are passed out. The drowning person will only drown the both of y’all. Always stay feet from the drowning person till they go under , once limp pull up front backwards. I wish the public knew this so badly.

The man that drowned was possibly under the influence. Let this serve as a warning. You can do a lot of stupid things while under the effects of drugs or alcohol that you normally wouldn’t do without them. So sad and tragic. RIP.

" what are you doing my friend?" friends let friends drown?

Lol, cop says not to go in... dude goes in and dies at his own will. But it's the officer's fault. We are literally living in 2+2=5 land.